"Even now I sit in awe of it, trying to do the impossible -- that is, describe it," Martin wrote in his letter. "It was absolutely stupendous, the ultimate, utmost! I cannot fathom how you could fit so much action into so few pages. It will live forever as one of the greatest F.F. comics ever printed, ergo, as one of the greatest of ALL comics."

He continued to gush, "In what other comic mag could you see things like a hero falling down a manhole, a heroine mistaking a toy inventor for a criminal, and the President of the U.S.A. leaving a conference that may determine the fate of the world to put his daughter to bed. The epic story, spectacular and exciting as it is, is not all that made this mag so great."

Courtesy Marvel

A letter from George R. R. Martin appeared in the 1961 edition of "The Fantastic Four" from Marvel.

Martin commented that he loved the letter column and the cover, where a fledgling Marvel back in the 1960's would brag a bit.

"THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE! Brilliant!" Martin wrote. "You were just about the world's worst mag when you started, but you set yourself an ideal, and, by gumbo, you achieved it! More than achieved it, in fact -- why, if you were only half as good as you are now, you'd still be the world's best mag!!!"

He signed it George R. Martin from Bayonne, N.J.

Whoever responded to Martin commented, "We might as well quit while we're ahead."